Kyudo, martial art of Japanese archery (MARdb.com)

www.mardb.com From the Martial Arts Database Kyudo is the martial art of Japanese archery, literally meaning “the way of the bow”. The bow had been used in Japanese warfare for many centuries. It also served as a hunting tool. Kyudo is a relatively popular recreational activity, practiced in kyudojo, special kyudo facilities found in schools, culture centers and the like. The bow used for kyudo is about two meters long, and stationary targets are located in a distance of either 28 or 60 meters. An important part of kyudo is the ritual preparation of each shot. As in all the Japanese martial arts, the training of one’s mind is essential in kyudo.

25 Comments

  1. recurvebows says:

    how could it be useless? when you meditate, you are in piece with the world around you. probably you missed the point of this all. is the ability of painting a beautiful picture that you hang on your wall useless?

  2. teamshintaichi says:

    we don’t try to be the target. we are one with the arrow.

  3. SurfandTachi says:

    like onimotoko said, no skill is useless. depends on what your defenition of useless is.

  4. iloveutuvetwice says:

    more or less
    the ego minds
    success or failure
    one you are

  5. oformeat says:

    what load of crap

  6. KjetilKilhavn says:

    Could we not be spared the (European) classical music?

  7. TheZadak says:

    if you ‘try to be the target’, you are likely to get hurt

  8. 123elnat says:

    “Martial Art” is something of a misnomer. Kyudo appears to be a martial art in the same way that western fencing is a martial art – it has roots in warfare but has altered all out of recognition. I think it safe to say that the men who faced down the Mongols in 1246 didn’t bother with “polishing their minds” – they shot to hit and to kill. Cool bows, though.

  9. xXAthmosXx says:

    Is it Heki-Style or Shomen-Style?

  10. MrFRAER says:

    хорошу религию
    придумали индусы

  11. TYKKETYKKE says:

    Is the music bad, because it’s european?

  12. KjetilKilhavn says:

    In my opinion that is the problem in this particular case, the music doesn’t match very well with the movie subject. It would be equally bad to use this music in a movie about Indian (as in native American) archery.

  13. TYKKETYKKE says:

    Good point. Now I agree.

  14. GuamKomudo says:

    If you learn more about the samurai you will learn that having a good mind was everything. If your body is strong and your mind is weak then your still weak… Most the time war archery is more about how far to arch your bow so that the group all shoots upward and makes the arrow land (for exp) 200 yrds away, not shooting targets.
    But the Japanese culture and martial arts always stresses the importants of a strong mind

  15. 123elnat says:

    GuamKomudo,
    I know enough about the samurai to know that during the Edo period, with no fighting going on, they justified their continued existence & the practice of martial arts that defined them as a class, and did so by spiritualizing these to an extent not seen earlier, I believe. The idea that the process is more important than landing a shot on target appears to be a result of that. Many of the popular conceptions about the samurai date to this period, and aren’t applicable to all periods.

  16. 123elnat says:

    Incidentally, the practice of warfare changed greatly over the centuries – early on the emphasis was on individual prowess. Later on that changed – the Mongol invasions kicked of a small revolution in Japanese warfare as the samurai adapted. During the Gempei Wars, shortly prior to the Mongol invasions, there was an incident where a Minamoto archer shot the weather vane off a Taira ship from a great distance – the fact that the feat was remembered shows that accuracy was highly valued then.

  17. BurpietheClown says:

    it’s heki to ryu and shomen style…as you can see how they do the ashibumi and the uchi o koshi…

  18. UFarcher says:

    the music has an ethereal feeling, I love it

  19. taro2999 says:

    I think “kyudo is not a martial art.”. Because I don’t aim at the mato, but I’m looking it until It’s ripe for Hanare(shooting). The time among the Hassetu is a wordless conversation to the mato and myself.

  20. jazzmanzoot says:

    Give me an English Arrow any day !

  21. GundamFanDeluxe00 says:

    Kewl :D i wanna head shot a sniper lol

  22. xiandrian says:

    the main thing about Kyudo.. is NOT aiming..

  23. TheGameTree says:

    @KjetilKilhavn No

  24. GusCraigengower says:

    LOL@*man spinning around on a sqeaky wooden horse shouting *YIINNN OOIII* while giving his target an EVILL stare with contempt ROFL xDD

  25. dauzjames says:

    @GusCraigengower yah they are really funny! LOL

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge

This site uses KeywordLuv. Enter YourName@YourKeywords in the Name field to take advantage.